Facts & Figures
Vertigo, Dizziness & Balance Disorders
Nearly 50 percent of people in the United States will experience balance disorders and vertigo sometime in their lives. In fact, dizziness is the third most common complaint in the
primary care setting among the general population and the most frequent reason for seeing a doctor among people ages 75 and older.
Accordingly, balance related falls cause over 250,000 hip fractures a year among individuals over age 65 and account for more than one-half of the accidental deaths among the elderly.
Overall, the cost of medical care for patients with balance disorders exceeds $1 billion per year in the U.S.
Furthermore, vestibular vertigo accounts for one-third of dizziness/vertigo symptoms in the medical setting. The most common vestibular disorder, Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo
(BPPV), can be diagnosed and treated successfully with no pills and no surgery.
Although 86 percent of people with BPPV undergo medical consultation, interruption of daily activities, or sick leave, only eight percent receive effective treatment. In fact, less than
10 percent of dizzy patients are ever evaluated by a specialist, exacerbating the fact that children with treatable vestibular disorders are sometimes incorrectly diagnosed as learning
disabled, dyslexic, or psychologically disturbed.
Recent studies indicate pediatric hearing loss may affect as many as 15% of children. It is estimated that upwards of 50% of children with congenital SNHL (sensorineural hearing loss)
also have a vestibular loss or dysfunction. Benign Positional Vertigo (BPV) of childhood, a form of early migraine that is the #1 cause of dizziness in infants and young children between
one to four years of age.
Hearing Loss
One in every 10 (36 million) Americans has hearing loss. As baby boomers reach retirement age starting in 2010, this number is expected to rapidly climb and nearly double by the year 2030.
The prevalence of hearing loss increases with age, up to one in three over age 65. Most hearing losses develop over a period of 25 to 30 years.
Among seniors, hearing loss is the third most prevalent, but treatable disabling condition, behind arthritis and hypertension. While the vast majority of Americans (95 percent) with hearing
loss could be successfully treated with hearing aids, only 22 percent (6.35 million individuals) currently use them. Only 5 percent of hearing loss in adults can be improved through medical or
surgical treatment.
Every day in the United States, approximately one in 1,000 newborns (or 33 babies every day) is born profoundly deaf with another two to three out of 1,000 babies born with partial hearing
loss, making hearing loss the number one birth defect in America.
Only 69 percent of babies are now screened for hearing loss before one month of age (up from only 22 percent in 1998). Of the babies screened, only 56 percent who needed diagnostic evaluations
actually received them by three months of age. Moreover, only 53 percent of those diagnosed with hearing loss were enrolled in early intervention programs by six months of age. When children
are not identified and do not receive early intervention, special education for a child with hearing loss costs schools an additional $420,000, and has a lifetime cost of approximately $1 million
per individual.
Tinnitus
Tinnitus is commonly described as a ringing in the ears, but it also can sound like roaring, clicking, hissing, or buzzing. It may be soft or loud, high pitched or low pitched in either one or
both ears. In the last year, experts estimate that 22.7 million adult Americans experienced tinnitus for more than three months, which is roughly 10 percent of the adult population of the
United States.
Tinnitus is not a disease. It is a symptom that something is wrong in the auditory system, which includes the ear, the auditory nerve that connects the inner ear to the brain, and the parts
of the brain that process sound. Something as simple as a piece of earwax blocking the ear canal can cause tinnitus. But it can also be the result of a number of health conditions, such as:
- Noise-induced hearing loss
- Ear and sinus infections
- Diseases of the heart or blood vessels
- Ménière’s disease
- Brain tumors
- Hormonal changes in women
- Thyroid abnormalities
Despite its prevalence, many patients and healthcare providers are unaware that tinnitus is treatable. This means many people who could benefit from treatment are not aware of successful new
treatments, such as Neuromonic Tinnitus Treatment, which is considered by many experts to be a breakthrough in the field.